Four town employees under quarantine after ‘flunking’ rapid test

By Emme Rose Santiagudo

Four employees of the local government of Lemery, Iloilo are under quarantine after testing positive in the rapid antibody test.

Antibody tests, however, are deemed inaccurate in detecting the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as it is non-specific and prone to “false results.”

According to Oscar Villegas Jr. municipal mayor of Lemery, two of the employees are job orders while the other two are holding permanent positions in the local government.

Villegas said the four employees have been isolated and placed under facility quarantine in Lemery.

“Okay man ila condition. Gin-isolate namon sila para mapalayo sila sa mga tawo, and ginbutang sila sa quarantine facility diri sa isa ka eskwelahan,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.

More or less 200 employees of the local government unit (LGU) of Lemery underwent rapid antibody testing on June 9 to June 10, 2020.

Villegas said the four employees who tested positive were already subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing on Thursday, which is the gold standard for Covid-19 testing, for confirmation.

“Nakuhaan na sila swab kaina kag ginpadul-ong na namon sa Iloilo City. We are expecting that the results will be released by next week,” he said.

In the meantime, Villegas said they have temporarily stopped the transactions at the municipal hall on Thursday.

The municipal hall was also disinfected Wednesday afternoon.

Villegas said they will resume their operations on Monday.

Meanwhile, he appealed to residents of Lemery to remain calm and practice safety measures against Covid-19 pending the results of the four employees.

“Sa tanan nga mga Lemerenhon magapabilin lang nga kalmado, indi magpanic sa tion nga ini.  Padayunon naton ang mga policy measures kaangay sang pagsuksok sang face masks, pagobserbar sang social distancing and pagobserbar sang personal hygiene. Ang aton opisina kaupod sang bilog nga LGU sang Lemery magapabilin nga kaupod  ninyo sa pag-atubang sang sitwasyon naton subong,” he said.